KINGSTON >>The Common Council on Tuesday night authorized a $100,000 fund established to pay for the demolition of unsafe buildings in the city.

The council voted unanimously in favor of creating the fund.

The council also favored creating a fund that would hold money collected from property owners whose buildings are deemed unsafe and in need of demolition. The cost of the demolition would be added to the property owner’s tax bill, though that doesn’t ensure the city would be able to collect.

Already, $30,000 of the new $100,000 fund has been earmarked to pay for demolition work done at 30-32 Tompkins St.

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City Building Inspector Troy Ashdown has said the unsafe building program has yielded other results, too. Buildings at 22 Catherine St., 12 Linderman Ave. and 283 W. O’Reilly St. were been demolished at no cost to the city, he said.

Also under the program, Ashdown said, plans for remedial action have been submitted for properties at 207 Smith Ave., 194 Hurley Ave. and 262 Linderman Ave.

Other properties targeted for demolition are at 78 Franklin St., 72 Garden St., 255 Abeel St. and 81 Cedar St., he said.

Mayor Shayne Gallo has said the demolitions are part of a citywide effort to rid neighborhoods of eyesores that bring down property values, create havens for drug use and hurt the city’s landscape.

Gallo has estimated there are about 50 properties in the city that fall under the city’s Unsafe Building Law. He said the city has moved as swiftly as possible to deal with such properties, given the kinds of legal procedures it must go through, and that members of the city’s Building Safety Division “have worked hard and diligently toward that end.”

About the Author

Paul Kirby is a reporter for the Freeman, covering Kingston politics. He has been at the Freeman since August 1996. Reach the author at pkirby@freemanonline.com
or follow Paul on Twitter: @PaulatFreeman.